My New Favorite App: Shipt

In the ever growing landscape of mobile apps, I’ve decided to highlight one every time I find an app that will make your life so much easier. First up: Shipt.

I can’t tell you how many times I get done with work, and really need to go to the grocery store, but just can’t bring myself to do it. Getting off around 5 or 5:30 pm like the rest of the world and heading to the grocery store is a nightmare. The parking lot is full, you have to deal with crazy old people who are standing in the way of that one brand of food you really want, and the coupon clippers are holding up the line.

When I lived in New Jersey a few years ago, I would spend almost every free day in Manhattan. I would love to always stop by Whole Foods and pick up my groceries for just that night, or maybe a couple of nights. In Birmingham, it doesn’t really work that way. When I go to the grocery store, I’m buying as much food as my bank account will allow so that I don’t have to deal with the grocery store for as long as possible.

So I thought, wouldn’t it be great if I could just have groceries delivered to my door when I get home? I’ve always wondered why more places didn’t get into the delivery game. It works for pizza, why not for Mexican food? Why not for burgers? Why not for groceries?

A quick Google search led me to Shipt.

Shipt is a Birmingham-based company that specializes in grocery delivery. It’s also available in Tampa, Orlando, South Florida, Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, and Charlotte. I was a bit skeptical before I jumped in to it because I wasn’t sure how exact they could get my picky order. But after giving it a shot with the 14-day free trial, the process was super simple and everything was delivered identical to how I ordered it.

You can order on the Shipt app (free on iOS and Android, service pricing below) or on their website. I placed my first order after work on Monday afternoon on my iPhone. I knew it would take a bit for them to get my order and actually go get it, and I already had food for dinner that night, so I scheduled it for the next day after work. You select an hour window to have them delivered, so I scheduled it for 6-7 pm since I usually get home from work around 5:30-6 pm.

The interface was extremely easy to use and made ordering a breeze. You can either use their menu to select what you want, or search for each item individually.

Shipt uses Publix as it’s grocery store, so they have the store brand and all other options typically available at Publix for each item. The only thing I found to be an issue when looking for items is that the bakery and their fresh foods aren’t as easy to look for. However, that’s understandable since it isn’t always the same every day and the supplies are a little more limited.

Now for the pricing. Shipt does require a membership. When you join, you get two weeks free to try it out. After that, you can pay monthly ($14/mo) or yearly ($99/year).

If you order less than $35, there is a $7 delivery fee. If you order more than $35, there is no delivery fee. Each item costs a little bit more as well, about $0.14 on every dollar. So for instance, if something costs $4.99 in the store, it would cost roughly $5.70 or so. All of these fees go to help pay for the service that you are getting.

This is definitely not a service for the coupon clippers. It’s a luxury, and you are paying for it. However, I would gladly pay a few more cents on each item to not have to deal with the headache of going to the grocery store after work when it seems like literally every other person in the city of Homewood and beyond is at the grocery store at the same time with the sole mission of driving me insane.

I scheduled my delivery for sometime between 6 and 7 pm, and it showed up at 6:35 pm. I was a little late getting home from work, so it turned out to be perfect. My shopper showed up at the door with all of the bags in her hand and handed them over and that was that.

Everything was exactly how I ordered it down to the last detail. There were a few things that were a little different than I expected, but I went back and looked at what I ordered and it was all a goof on my part. For instance, I totally selected 18 eggs instead of 6, but hey, a little extra protein never hurt anyone. It was a little surprising when I had a jumbo box of eggs, but that was 100% my fault.

So all in all, Shipt is totally worth the little bit of extra money. If anything, the small extra cost will keep me from buying stuff I don’t need.

I will also say that you can not buy alcohol or tobacco products through this service for obvious reasons. It’s not a big deal for me since I rarely drink and don’t smoke, but if you rely on grocery trips for that, you are out of luck.

Definitely check out Shipt if you are looking for a great alternative to dealing with the grocery store.

Shipt

Concept - 10/10

10/10

Price - 8/10

8/10

Design - 9/10

9/10

Functionality - 9.5/10

9.5/10

Summary

Shipt is a service that allows you to order groceries and have them delivered right to your door. The app allows you to order from anywhere. Although there is a membership required, and a small up-charge on each item, the convenience is 100% worth it to have it all delivered to your front door.

Jon Lunceford is a sports media broadcaster and digital professional. Jon is a graduate of the University of Alabama school of journalism, and played football at Birmingham-Southern College. He has also won two AHSAA Football State Championships while at Homewood High School and was a two-time World Cyber Games Team USA representative. He currently hosts Primetime on WJOX 94.5 and runs the high school athletics site JoxPreps.